Fra utopia e scetticismo. Considerazioni sulla costituzione europea

This note draws on a recent essay by Anne Dufourmantelle about the topic of hospitality (in J. Derrida and A. Dufourmantelle, Sull'ospitalità, Milano 2000). In Hebrew, the verb “to invite” is constructed as a compound, using the verbal phrase “to create time”: understanding this offers another way of penetrating the intimacy of the relationship between host and guest. Being a guest is tantamount to “being with others”: the possibility to exist because other exist, as a concept feeding on a time as well as a space. The place of meeting, where the guest is invited, may not necessarly be physical: it may comprise the simple gesture of welcome, as the ability to welcome is the only “house” where guests will feel really tempted to meet. Dufourmantelle insists on hospitality as “solidarity between people who vacillate”. This alone does not exhaust the meeting, does not force understanding, risking unexpected consequences waiting in uncertainty. An understanding of the bond of hospitality may be useful for proposing new alliances and new rules. The effort made in this note is the attempt to understand the time dimension of hospitality, a time that is present but also postulates the future, establishes the premises for it and “creates it”.